The Lake County Captains topped off their three-game series with the Great Lakes Loons in an extra-inning 5-4 loss Wednesday afternoon.

Great Lakes jumped on Lake County starter Felix Sterling early in the first inning. Designated hitter Jesus Alberto Arredondo laced a line-drive single to center and advanced to second when first baseman Joseph Winker reached on an error. Right fielder Scott Schebler followed with a double to center to score Arredondo. Winker scored on a groundout by catcher Pratt Maynard and Schebler scored as second baseman Kevin Taylor sliced a single to right. Sterling’s struggles continued as he plunked left fielder Devin Shines, which advanced Taylor to second. Sterling managed to catch a break as he picked off Taylor from second to end the inning and stop the bleeding.

Lake County third baseman Jesse Bosnik led off the second inning with a solo home run to right, but Sterling was able to impede any further damage by retiring the next three batters.

Starting for Great Lakes was lefty Jarret Martin. Martin breezed through the Captains line-up through the first three innings, but hiccupped in the fourth when Captains left fielder LeVon Washington led off with a walk. Washington advanced to second as Martin was called for a balk and Washington advanced to third as shortstop Francisco Lindor grounded out. Center fielder Luigi Rodriguez struck out but reached first on a throwing error by catcher Pratt Maynard. Rodriguez would go on to steal second and score behind Washington as catcher Alex Lavisky singled up the middle. First baseman Leonardo Castillo followed suit with a bloop single to right, advancing Lavisky to second. Second baseman Robel Garcia joined in on the offensive parade with a single to left, but the inning ended as right fielder Bryson Myles struck out swinging and third baseman Todd Hankins grounded out to second.

The Captains plated two more runs in the fifth inning with two outs as Lindor singled and Rodriguez walked. Both runners scored as Lavisky sent a line drive double to center, ending the day for Martin. Martin was replaced by right-hander Jose Dominguez, who got Castillo to pop out to end the rally.

Cole Cook, a 6’6” right-hander out of California, replaced Sterling in the sixth inning for the Captains. Cook retired the first two batters he faced until surrendering a single to Taylor. Cue Lavisky, who got the Captains out of the inning by picking off Taylor at first for the third out.

After a scoreless top of the seventh, Cook was replaced by lefty Kyle Petter. Petter tossed three innings of scoreless ball until he was pulled for Mason Radeke for the start of the tenth with the score locked at 4-4. Radeke carried the Captains through the twelfth inning, as Ryan O’Sullivan manned the mound for the Loons.

Xavier De Los Santos entered the game for the Captains in the thirteenth inning, but was pulled immediately with an arm injury. De Los Santos was replaced with righty Jordan Cooper, who managed to get the Captains through the inning without further deficit.

The fourteenth inning would be the dramatic finish as Matt Shelton relieved O’Sullivan. Shelton got third baseman Todd Hankins to ground out and struck out the designated hitter Nick Bartolone before allowing Washington to single through the hole to right. Washington’s hit would go unanswered, however, as Lindor made the third out on a fly ball to left.

In the home half of the fourteenth, the Loons got lucky as Maynard singled with one out to center. Taylor followed with another single, and Maynard managed to round the bases and reach home on a throwing error by right fielder Bryson Myles, ending the long day at a final score of 5-4.

The 14-inning match concluded the series for the Captains and Loons. Next, Lake County returns to Classic Park to kick off their first home stand against Bowling Green. The home opener is Thursday with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Stephanie is a crime and general assignment reporter for The Morning Journal in Lorain, Ohio. She’s an alumna of Cleveland State University with a degree in Journalism and Promotional Communication. You can follow her on Twitter @7thInningSteph.